ALIENWARE 15 HYPE?! leaked video

.
.
.

That's from Wikipedia.

You're spot on ayylmao. This will happen sooner rather than later with the heat these will put out and the size compared to most bga components. Now imagine overclocking..

 

>overclocking a 4710hq

I smell the scent of a BGA's solder wearing out!

But even if you don't overclock it and keep it cool, it'll die eventually. I used my Vaio Z2 everyday to watch videos, and play old games since I got it 2 years ago. I always cleaned out the fans every month, and I carefully re-applied the TIM every 6 months and the CPU's BGA grid still died due to the solder wearing out.

BGA is not the way of the future, and computer manufacturers need to realize this. It's only a way for them to milk money out of innocent people who's laptops have failed because of it.

 

That perfectly fits to the philosophy that the device shall break after 2 years (and warranty is over)

I miss standards. Standard dimensions for circuit boards in laptops. As in Desktop PCs. So we could exchange parts as we wish. Now with a "phat" case like Alienware's this should be no problem. Even for for exchangeable mobile GPUs and CPUs. It's not Alienware alone to blame, but every manufacturer.

They all come up with weird shapes, sizes, ports on different sides, but all in all - let's be honest - these do not differ thaaaaaaat much from each other in size. A 15" laptop always needs to have at least the length and width of the display. The only difference that can be made is the height. But 3cm is surely enough for an MXM.

- hence nowadays with the DVD-drive gone the MXM could even be placed *next* to the Motherboard, instead *ontop*. The Motherboard at most takes 1/3 of the case space, therefore it's still enough room for an MXM, a HD, a battery.

Not much more is needed. There is no reasonably reason for that we could not have modular exchangeable parts in 15"/17" rigs. Manufacturers just don't want to give us that.

 

I like the way Clevo is at least bucking the trend with it's P750ZM/770ZM where they're putting desktop CPU's with MXM GPU's... Now if they do that in a dual GPU set up, I will buy it in a heartbeat...

 

Brother Tom, that's the Clevo 570

 

Brother Tbone, I would love to get some like the P570WM however it's too bloody heavy for me.. I basically want something like the P750ZM size but with 2 GPU's... Max weight of around 4.5kgs... The P570WM would break my hands and probably my back too

 

The Amplifier in my opinion is the best upgrading system there is. MXM Upgrading has always been difficult as you have to find sources where to buy MXM Cards first and second get a VBIOS that fits.
Also those MXM Cards were very expensive (at least if you weren´t lucky and got one from ebay).
BUT: If CPU und GPU cant be upgraded because they are soldered to the mainboard, annother side effect occurs: it is less customizable!
I remember your first M15x, there are still people going along with it (they changed the 460M to a 970M) and got the fastest XM processor.
When I look at your configurator I see, that I cant get an I7 CPU with the smallest GPU available. I have to get the 970M in order to get the I7 CPU.
For me these are 300$ more than I would have to pay if I wanted to get the better CPU! Why cant i get the I7 with the weakest GPU and buy your amplifier for the money i would save with that configuration??
I think that this lack of customizing your individual laptop is what some others criticised!
But i really like the AW 15!
And btw: Why is the german alienware Site always so slow? On the german site there is no alienware 13 I7 option (not even haswell I7) , the 15 doesn´t exist yet and the 17 and 18 have the old GTX 880M ! This is really annoying!

 

I've never had an Alienware before, kinda interested in this one.

Are the RAM and HDD user-accessible?

 

Yes. There are also two M.2 slots.

 

When Alienware launches their "mystery coupon" sale, I'll probably grab the AW 15.

 

I just purchased AW 15 with 256 m.2 ssd. And when I saw the order detail, I found that m.2 ssd is TLC. ..
So I just canceled right away. But they withdrew my money and gift card balance after canceling the order.
Now, I have to wait 24~48 hours to place an order agian... Awesome!
...

 

Hmm looks like M14x fiasco all over again with the additional rubbish amplifier!

Embarresing really! The old M15x still has the potential to outperform this soldered on turd.

If the next series of GPU's comes in MXM variety it is a certainty that someone will make it work and it will perform above a desktop GTX980...

 

the fps gain you gain from 4940mx is only marginal, and beyond 60 fps. if you are not using like a 120hz monitor a 4710hq is sufficient for modern day gaming

 

Yes, that too. The only reasoning for that would be if the weak GPU doesn't scale well with the stronger CPU, which I doubt.

 

The specs of your beast (signature) show what alienware was about : Nearly no original part is in there.
You oced your processor, built in a new GPU, and more ...
But the Alienware 15 though it is not upgradable will be a good machine.
The I7 4710HQ will have plenty of power for many years and with the GA plugged in, the CPU will be even overclocked.
The I7 is just extremely important for this laptop - An I5 is just not suitable for a real gaming laptop in 2015 anymore!
You should also keep in mind that prices will drop after the release (they always do), and that other manufacturers also make mistakes.
If the Alienware has a really good cooling system (quiet and silent), good build quality and good battery life this is more important than a faster processor and a 980M that get very hot and your ears get blown away.
Lets wait for the first reviews and the first owners to tell about the AW 15 :thumbsup:

 

In two or three year the gpu will be too weak, so you get the amplifier, but now the cpu is too weak and you can't upgrade ... You see ? For me these alienware are useless, better buy and asus or msi, same hardware, cheaper. You cant upgrade so the only difference will be on the case and warranty ...

NO, i am sorry but NO ! You want a good quality laptop with long battery go buy a mac or high end ultrabook. Alienware and clevo are for people who want to upgrade and keep the laptop as long as possible, not trowing it to the bin within two year, there plenty other manufacturer that provide laptop as you want.

 

smart that they connected the heatpipes like this when you use a amplifier the onboard card wont work so more cooling for the CPU meaning lower fanspeed...........if they tought of that :laugh:

 

Im looking at some 4710HQ Benchmarks and what I wonder about is the CPU OC when the GA plugged in.
I have something like 3,7 ghz or so in mind (or am i mistaking?? )?
And I still dont see any problems with the CPU performance. The Games are primarily focused on the hardware of the consoles, and regarding their weak CPU (part of the APU) there will be no problem.
ASUS ROG Laptops use soldered CPU and GPU since years, their last switchable GPU was a mobility 5870 or so.
And for the most people, the most important thing is a good overall package - and that is definitely what the AW offers.
For me, the noise of a laptop is very important - i am not a silence freak, but if the high pitched noise of a cooler is driving me crazy what is the notebook good for?
The 4710HQ is about the same performance as my 2600k (that i havent overclocked on my PC) and I dont see any trouble coming.
The performance is sufficient, do you know how much the CPU performance was increased within 4 years?? The 2600k was released Q1 2011 and now Haswell have maximum 15% more performance (games) - and i see no reason for that to accelerate during the next years.
The new way chosen is the low level API like AMD Mantle (if you compare mantle in BF4 to non mantle you can clearly see that mantle gives you a performance boost you wont be able to get by overclocking even the best desktop I7. )
Of course, having more performance is always better, and an extreme CPU (that you can oc) might give you the posibility to be at the very top of the CPU Chart for the next 4-5 years, but I wouldnt be afraid that the 4710HQ wont have sufficient performance in 3-4 years anymore.

 

For the cpu performence i disagree, some new game need a lot of cpu power , beamng.driver for example . I can't spawn more than 6 cars with an i5 2500k @ 4.8 Ghz on my desktop rig. Farcry 3 and battlefield 3/4 need a lot of cpu too, GTA 4 and surely 5 and now Unity. This is just the beginning.

The ps4 and xbox one has only one type of hardware so the dev can optimise their game a lot, look after gta 5 on the 2005 3 core cpu of the xbox 360.
So for now the 4710 is enough in most game but in two years ? If you could swap it for a xm and overclock it you could use your laptop again for one or two years, even if the gpu is bga , you still can use the amplifier with the futur generation of graphic cards.
Mantle and stuff work good but it's clearly not in all game, even those who are actually in dev. It work great i agree but for now we can't count on it.
About the noise, yea i can understand, in my case i must use a headphone when i watch movie at night, the fan make too much noise and i have to make the sound very loud to cover them. But i have some other laptop than doesn't make any sound, can play movies ect ... I have bought my alienware knowing this issue. For me you are saying "i want to buy a ferrari but i want it to be as fuel efficiency as a prius" , that's impossible , you have to make a choice between performance and cooling noise.
Maybe a gtx 965m in a thin laptop that run quiet could be the best choice for you but some people, like me, want an extreme laptop. You can look after Asus aorus for example , plenty of power but thin and not so much noise, that's a compromise, a good compromise but some people do not want compromise.
If i want a good familly car that can race on track sometime i will buy a bmw wagon or whatever , i will not ask ferrari to make me a familly car, that's not their job.
In my eyes alienware is going to be a random good laptop for gamer, like asus and msi, not a bad thing, but well ... I think this is the end of an era, clevo will follow in some time and that will be over. The same thing is happening in desktop world, broadwell and skylake will be BGA i think, no more tweaking , no more upgrade just buy/use/throw in the bin like all the smartphone.

 

F**k yeah, King! That's the spirit!

We'll just have to wait for the GTX 1200 series to come out. I can only hope Clevo still MXM's till then so we'll have those cards in MXM format. Perhaps then the OG m15x will outperform this solderjockey!

 

You know what, there is 1 thing....... which would make me accept all these limitations:

IF I were able to exchange the whole Motherboard as a whole after a couple of years. IF I could select an upgraded motherboard with new soldered CPU/GPU from Alienware then. Of course the upgrade would be expected to be starting at ~500$ based on the lowest new configuration, but that would actually be acceptable.

I would NOT need a new display, nor a new casing, nor a new HDD, nor a new battery, nor a new WLAN module, nor a new keyboard - NO - just a newly configured compatible Motherboard. This should also be much cheaper.

It would require, however, that the motherboard can be replaced without too much hassle on your own. I did that multiple times on thin laptops and it was possible, so Alienware should be even easier, because it has much more room. It would also require that the position of the connectors stay the samein the next 5 years.

Give me that, Alienware, and I forgive all your sins...

 

i thought msi came out with there own amp which also has a speaker on it....

 

i am very disappointed with this so called "resurrection" .........

 

Its already been proven, albeit by GPU chips that solder degradation will happen over time. When an electrical component has often high temperature differences and fluctuations in short it means that solder will degrade way faster. Meaning your overall system longevity and life expectancy to actually have proper use of the GA in my humble opinion is not really viable at this point.

I personaly couldnt care less for overclocking and extreme performance in notebooks like some of the members do, but I find it fascinating that things like these can be done. Some users push their machines so hard that OEM-s could and should ask them how to improve on the design and make everyone happy. Not going "toss it in the trash after warranty is gone" route.

What i do care is system longevity. I dont change systems all that often and I expect my machines to last. Soldered 47W CPU that goes into 60W turbo wont last due to extreme temperature delta that will go on inside of it. Guess what happens then? New motherboard. Guess what is the most common notebook killer atm? GPU chip cold solder - solution? New motherboard. By soldering the CPU they increased chances to kill of your machine and shorten its lifespan. Thats what makes me mad. I will not go and discuss re-balling / baking techniques as none of them proved to be long lasting fixes

My brother has AW 17r4 - bought it when it got out. His GPU died shortly after 2 year warranty expired. But he pretty much didnt care although he was out of warranty. Why? He was able to pull it out and continue to use the system on integrated GFX. If he decides he wants to play games later on or move into more serious CAD work than he is doing now - poof new GFX and voila - system works even better than before.

My old M6600 went to my syster, I somehow think that first thing on that machine that will die will be GPU - she than has two options - either I get her new GPU for it I know its not cheap, but its a lot cheaper than aw 15/17 mobos will be once you factor in you have to pay for cpu, gpu and mobo or just yank it out and use integrated Intel HD. There is actualy a 3rd option - eGPU via Express Card slot - which I tested with GTX 760 and worked like a charm. It was just plug and play + driver instal and boom - your GA for 60$ + GFX cost.

 

whats wrong with m.2 tlc?

 

I'm just waiting to see what the failure rate on these machines will be. I wouldn't even risk buying one without an extended warranty. To much risk something will fail and you will have to pay like $1000 for a new motherboard. The rage will be real then.

 

m.2 tlc option is $250. mlc is always faster than tlc and better technology, so tlc is cheaper than mlc.
So, it is not worth $250 at all.

 

Replacing the motherboard would be the only way to upgrade. But that wouldn't be cheap and since all the major components are attached. Some people have swapped out Aleinware 14 motherboards to upgrade the GPU and it isn't cheap even being able to re-use the CPU chip since it's a socket.

This in my view is totally unacceptable. It's pretty clear Alienware don't want people to upgrade their laptops any more. You want a new machine you have to sell it for nothing and go buy an new one.

 

So what you're saying is the consumer has to pay for an overpriced weak BGA Alienware and on top of that spend additional money on the GA PLUS even MORE money on a desktop 970/980? Yeah sounds like a real genius move on Dell's part. RIP Alienware.

 

That's false. That does not mean the BGA won't wear out. If it's "proper cooling", I'd imply you meant water cooling as a laptops fans will never prevent a ball grid array from dying. Even at low temperatures, the solder is always wearing out. It's like going outside when it's 30 degrees celsius. Hot isn't it? You'd be sweating quite a fair bit, especially if you didn't drink any water. That's about how hot an Intel Atom CPU would be running at when idle.

And what about those terrible nvidia chipsets in old compaq and acer laptops during 2005-2006? Those ran extremely cool from what I've heard, like maybe 15 degrees, and they still died very fast. I suspect poor quality solder, but you get the point.

I'd expect more from you, Meaker seeing as you're a genius (No offense)

 

It wouldn't be cheap, but cheap enough to be worthy. If you wait 5 years you get the newest weakest configuration for 500$ (at this time even the lowest config will double the performance - based on my own observation over the years: every 5 years the laptop performance at least doubles).

The problem is - when looking at disassembled Alienwares - that the inside of the Alienware is just as crammed and ugly as in any other cheapo laptop. I expected better, specially with this thick case. You'd think they could make it more flexible and easier to build, more modular (like in "Project Ara"), allowing larger connectors - but instead they just fill up the empty space with centimeter-thick, complicated, interlocked separators.

I realize though it doesn't make much sense to argue about that, because you are right in that they simply don't want us to upgrade. A sad time. We'd really need more standardized motherboard forms and cases - until then everything is useless. I often had the urge to build a laptop case on my own, but what good is it for, if it only works for 1 specific motherboard.

 

I have spoken to two Alienware sales reps, and both of them have told me that the 15" and 17" do HAVE MXM upgradeable GPUs. So you would be able to upgrade the GPU, at least in the future to new gen GPUs. This is however just word from sales reps and has not been confirmed!

 

I'd take it with a pinch of salt... I seriously doubt they're MXM GPU's.. Nobody has been making 3GB/4GB MXM modules... (Asus don't count)..

 

That's exactly what I've been saying for months now.

 

+1 I really hope you are right, but I doubt that's the case.

 

It doesn't man, look at the pictures.

 

Just saw the updates on the alienware.de site (german alienware). And it was shocking:
1499€ for an I5 and 965M and the graphics amplifier isnt included - seriously??
Thats really a slap in the face, and is very likely the finishing stroke for me buying an alienware.
I think i will try to call dell when they sorted out the "old" notebooks (so you cant buy them online anymore for the first day) and try to get one of these old alienware laptops.

 

I'm still trying to figure out why the 15" is more expensive than the 17" with 4710 and 970.

It's still possible to order the old 17", at least in my country.

 

Heureka, finally the german site updated! Now I'll buy... NOT. Also when seeing the price...

Another funny thing: the crappy german website does hardly offer any customization at all, you can just select one of the 4 models and that's it. Whereas the US website offers at least more customizability in RAM and GPU. Even for the lowest configuration you can choose a 970m, for another configuration you have 970m, 980m, ATI 295x. Maybe it's really MXM, so they swap it easily?

And what sux on both is, that you can't select the CPU... this is crap. The same crapiness as their configuration website. We don't need 4 selectable models of the same type, just 1 model and customization options. It's schizophrenic.

 

It is not mxm

 

Seriously perhaps I will be forced to adopt watercooling. Push the 920xm over 4ghz and then switch back to desktops or clevo...

Alienware really disappoint me and insult the old M15x that at over 5 years old can still beat the 15. It is a shame.

HBM is coming meaning mxm cards could possibly shink in size further. Cards are also getting more and more efficient and the same applies to cpus. Hopefully this soldered plus amp rubbish is just a fad.

There is no way the future is set on that...

 

The sales rep you talked to has no idea what is he talking about. This is a screenshot to backup my post.


And from my rage, these two guys should step down.

 

Spoiler

 

I don't know what to buy now... guess I'll buy nothing, keeping my old rig, although annoyed with it.

Probably wait for tests and then decide which is best... heat and noise is important. Very important.

 

Sounds cool but it's not for me. Alienware here tries to poach into Asus' customer base with these cheap laptops, plus having a graphics amplifier is completely defeating the point of having a laptop to some extent: "you have a 4K screen which you paid $200 extra for, but you can't game at that level without this $4-figure Amplifier which will also keep you tied down to your desk". At the price of one, unless you REALLY need mobility (as in you don't stay in the same place for more 2-6 months or LAN parties are a common thing) it's better to build a desktop than buy one of these.
I'm not recommending building a desktop lightly, especially since I'm the sort of guy who wants the best, money being no issue (hence why will upgrade to a really expensive GT80 within 3 months), but desktop, in this case here, is better and cheaper.

 

I love my desktop to death and it has its place, but I like having a mobile machine I can play games on occasionally on the go with as well and I can have some fun with tinkering with. Not sure what I'm gonna buy at this point to achieve that goal.

 

I couldn't agree with you more, King.

It does seem like a fad though. I mean, MSI is doing it also from what I've heard. Fujitsu even did it in 2008.

 

If you can get a 49xx series CPU in the 15, connect it to the graphics amplifier, the combined cooling could be interesting to clock the CPU up when the internal GPU is disabled.

 

I'm pretty sure the A15 has a BGA'd CPU, meaker. Even with proper cooling, the grid array will die in the future.

 

Lets find out. Which 15 is the last man standing haha.

The guys on here with a 9xx series gpu and xm in the M15x should contact dell and ask them why their 6 year old 15 is the same as the new one and why the old one should be able to beat it down the line... but but the 15 is more portable and if you need hardcore gaming performance you can always take the amp with you lol

Perhaps the 15 will be really cheap 1k for bga i7 and 970M and then throw the amp in for free. Then perhaps they have a small market lol

Anways its a shame. When I saw this thread I did not expect them to make a larger 13.